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The CC - What’s Thistle and What’s Seed.
What’s Thistle and What’s Seed.On LinkedIn, I’m constantly propositioned to buy the seeds of leadership growth. Titles bombard me through sponsored posts, “Here's the 12 Seeds to Grow Successful Leaders.” For the first two-thirds of my life, this worked. I needed these seeds and planted them to grow a flourishing family, company and a leadership personality, one that caused me to be appreciated within a larger community. But I’m realizing that those seeds will not be the best to carry me through the final third of my life. Seeds and weeds are powerful allegories in many ancient writings. I like the present day lyrics of Mumford and Sons on “Thistle and Weeds”. Here’s two lines from it: “Plant your hope with good seeds; Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds” I’ve been blessed with good seeds. With these, I’ve established my personal identity, decided on my ethical boundary markers, found security in my family, and linked myself to significant people and projects. These were both good and useful results. They gave me a place to stand. But this is the rub, after all these years, what used to be healthy ambition towards new projects, now feels like I’m planting the wrong seeds for this season. My identity used to be in entrepreneuring, but that’s now feeling like a forced performance; my old need for validation. I don't want to keep cultivating my identity through performance. If I do that, then in this final third of life, the familiar bag of seeds can become thistles. And these thistles can suffocate new growth when dreams fall short; and time is more of an emotional drag. I’ve had personal and family challenges that complicate my well-formed identity and even my ethical and religious formulas. I just don’t see how planting more of the same seeds will help. But by increasing my awareness and compassion for people, I hope to find new seeds. Each day, I’m learning how to stop planting old seeds that once worked. Learning to recognize these new seeds of wisdom don't need me to prove anything to the world in order to flourish. I’m not in a rush. There are many years left for me to watch this quiet growth of grace. I stopped on my way home the other day, just to appreciate the flagrant beauty of spring cherry blossoms. And as I write this I admire the pure friendships that surround me. Each day, I want to get new seeds planted deep in my soil. This spring, what new seeds do you have ready to plant? I would love to connect with you on LinkedIn or Facebook See you next week, Grayson Did someone forward you this email? Get weekly reflections straight to your inbox by subscribing to The Compassionate Competitor. Want to share this issue via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link: [ARCHIVE URL GOES HERE] |
Grayson Bain
Join us if you're yearning for business insights peppered with adventure, humanity, and a dash of humility. It’s more than success; it’s about significance.
Learning to Have New Ambitions. I wrote last week, “The Rare Gift of Attention”, and many of you responded positively. Thanks for that. But none of this attention-giving is natural for me. It’s actually often frustrating. My attention is towards ambition. It’s ambition that drives me into new and great projects. I’ve prided myself on pushing the boundaries of business and adventure. It’s surprising that after all these decades I can still look back over my shoulder and see clearly the mind of...
The Rare Gift of Attention I’ve spent most of my life paying attention to projects, with just enough attention to people to keep the company healthy. I told Geoff I’ve noticed something changing; I’m more interested in the person than in their projects. He didn’t let that pass. “You spent twenty-five years as a go-to guy for the staff and customers in your business. You were a problem solver. Why do you want to change your focus?” I’ve found that Geoff always pokes me to see myself in new...
Strategic Intent: 3 Words to Describe My True North I used to write words that formed our company direction; the “Strategic Intent”. There’s no business to lead now, but I’m thinking I need some words, some articulation for where I’m going. A sentence that holds me to my “true north”. In the 1980’s, we were on fire; we designed and built Canada’s first mountain bikes. But we had parts shortages, manufacturing problems and component failures. Our commitment was that the bikes needed to be...